Tongue protector



A ril 25, 193 G RY 2,155,743

TONGUE PROTECTOR Filed April 14, 1957 George Z 217 INVENTOR 71w. C 61 i I v ATTORN EY Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE TONGUE PROTECTOR Application April 14, 1937, Serial No. 136,902

'1 Claims.

This invention relates to means for protecting the tongue of a carcass during processing.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide means for protecting a hog tongue from the teeth and from the dehairing beaters during de 5 hairing of the carcass.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims which follow.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side sectional view showing the head of a hog carcass and the manner of securing the device in the mouth thereof.

The tongue protector shown in Figure 1 may be formed of suitable sheet metal formed substantially cylindrical in shape. Sheet metal cylinder I is bent such that edges 2 and 3 define a slit 4 on one side of the cylinder. The cylinder is held 20 in shape by fastening in any appropriate manner to end disk 5. The corners 6 and I are flared outwardly to form wings 8 and 9. End I is open. Slit 4 serves to make the walls of the device resilient.

The protector may be inserted into a hcgs mouth, open end It) entering first. The slit is pointed toward the lower jaw. The tongue is placed inside the tapered cylinder, and the protector is forced back into the hogs mouth its full 30 length and then forced downwardly so that wings 8 and 9 catch and lock in the back part of the lower jaw.

The action of Wings 8 and 9 combined with the pressure exerted against edges 2 and 3 of the slit 4 by the expansion caused by the frenum linguae caught in the slit holds the protector in place and prevents dislodgment by the action of dehairing beaters or gravity.

The device of the present invention is simple 40 in construction and requires no auxiliary tool for insertion, completely protecting the tongue. The

means employed for holding the tongue in place are simple and the results are positive, and it is apparent that the device is easy to clean.

If desired, a ring may be substituted for disk 5, provided the opening in the ring is sufliciently small to permit appreciable protection of the tip of the tongue.

The preferred form of cylinder, as shown in the drawing, is frusto-conical, although the shape may be varied if desired, provided only that the device have a slit which may engage the frenum linguae.

I claim:

1. A tongue protector comprising a frusto-conical guard provided with means for holding the guard in position in a carcass mouth.

2. Atongue protector comprising a resilient sheath provided with means for engaging the frenum linguae.

3. A tongue protector comprising a resilient sheath provided with a slit for engaging the frenum linguae and the edges of the slit flaring at one end to form wings for holding the tongue protector in a carcass mouth.

4. A tongue protector comprising a resilient frusto-conical guard provided with a slit substantially the length of the guard, the slit being adapted to engage the frenum linguae.

5. A tongue protector comprising a guard sub stantially cylindrical in cross section and provided with means for holding the guard in position in the mouth of a carcass.

6. A tongue protector comprising a resilient guard substantially cylindrical in cross section and provided with a slit substantially the length of the guard, the slit being adapted to engage the frenum linguae.

7. A tongue protector comprising a resilient sheath provided with a longitudinal slit, the slit being adapted to engage the frenum linguae.

GEORGE TERRY. 

